Episode 12 (S1)
Characters In Order of Appearance *Takuya Miyagawa *Eiichiro Maruo *Yukichi Fukazawa *Takuma Egawa *Natsu Takasaki *Yusaku Miura *Hiromi Iwasa *Masumi Makihara *Hana Yokoyama *Mike Mcguire *Kazuya Maruo *Hayato Terashima *Himeko Sasaki *Kojirou Kageyama Summary Eiichiro gets a short training from Coach Mike to improve his mental state. After defeating Terashima in the match, he meets Iwasa inside the store who "draws" using tennis. Synopsis The whole audience are surprised upon declaring Eiichiro's win against Miyagawa, a seeded player. Miyagawa congratulates Eiichiro and tells that he did not expect to lose in the match and how he should have attacked instead of simply observing Eiichiro in the previous games. After Eiichiro has left the courts, he is congratulated by Natsu, Yukichi and the others. However, he does not look that happy because his last point is due to pure luck and Miyagawa's playing safe in most of their games. Natsu tries to console Eiichiro and Coach Miura further explains how his luck has been created through his own actions. While Eiichiro is walking to the main office, he hears some people who talk about the results of his match and starts to appreciate that he, indeed, has won the match. At the main office, Eiichiro learns that his next match will be after two days. He is determined to improve his skills as his techniques were totally lost in his match against Miyagawa. He decides to work on his winning shots but instead, Coach Miura suggests to try something that will show results in one day. Turns out, Coach Mike, a famous coach in Florida, will be helping Eiichiro for this training. Instead of techniques, Coach Mike will teach on handling the mental state of the players. At the start of the training, Coach Mike asks Eiichiro to close his eyes and remembers the first day he met Natsu. At first, Eiichiro is hesistant to follow Coach Mike's instructions but Natsu convinces him to do so. Coach Mike tells Eiichiro to remember not only the image of the moments he met her but also the colors, sounds, movements and even sensations involved. After a few moments, Coach Mike instructs Eiichiro to open his eyes and they will practice some hitting. During the hitting practice, Eiichiro's hitting is worse than before. Coach Mike explains that his worse performance is due to the fact that his mind was not in combat mode and how combat mode and romance mode are opposite end of the spectrum. The training aims to show how Eiichiro's state of mind can influence his performance. It also aims to show how sharp Eiichiro's memory is, based on how he remembers his first meeting with Natsu. Coach Mike repeats the first part of the training. This time, Coach Mike instructs Eiichiro to remember the moment when he played his best. However, Eiichiro only has 20 seconds in order to remember that moment - based on the rules in tennis. He has a difficult time to do it due to short time and especially when he starts to get tired. But with the help of his notes, he starts to recall the things faster, thus, his performance starts to improve. After the training, Natsu and Eiichiro walk together and talk about Eiichiro's training with Coach Mike. At home, Eiichiro tries to review his notes but ends up sleeping instead. The day before the tournament, Coach Miura stops Eiichiro's training in order for Eiichiro not to overwork. The following day, Eiichiro faces Terashima, the 16th seeder for the tournament and known for being an aggressive all-rounder player. Terashima wants to use this opportunity to shine by defeating this unseeded player but Eiichiro crushes him. Even Kageyama who expects Eiichiro's match to be another long match, is totally surprised when he learns that Eiichiro's match ended quickly. Eiichiro excuses himself from Kageyama and Sasaki as the string of his racket broke so he has to visit the store first. Inside the store, he sees Iwasa who is his next opponent. He finds Iwasa a bit strange based on his actions and gets a further surprise when he learns from the store clerk about Iwasa who "draws" using tennis. Manga & Anime Differences *In the manga, Eiichiro is so focused on his thoughts that he did not notice Iwasa is in the same vicinity, waiting for his next match. In the anime, Eiichiro notices Iwasa when Iwasa's name is announced for the next match. *Iwasa's book while waiting for his next match is different; Color Research (色彩研究　''Shikisai Kenkyuu'') in the anime while Color Theory (色彩論　''Shikisairon'') in the manga. *In Iwasa's jacket, there is an Adidas logo found at his left breast side. In anime, there is none. *In Iwasa's bag in the manga, a DUNLOP logo can be found. In the anime, no logo can be found. *In the anime, when Eiichiro approaches Coach Miura to practice at STC, Makihara, Yokoyama and Natsu are at behind Coach Miura, watching the matches. In the manga counter part, only Makihara is present (or at least, in the frames) and she is beside Coach Miura. *During Mike's first appearance, in the manga, Mike is too close to Natsu - Mike put his arm around Natsu's shoulder - while in the anime, Mike shows a thumbs up and there is a distance between him and Natsu. *In the anime, when Eiichiro is trying to remember some scenes with Natsu, it did not include the part when Natsu is happy when both she and Eiichiro are in the same class. *In the anime, on the STC's Kanagawa Junior Tennis Circuit's tournament listing, a message is written (most likely from Natsu), congratulating Eiichiro for passing the third round of the tournament. *In the anime, Kageyama tells the reason he and Sasaki were late in watching Eiichiro's match against Terashima. In the manga, there is no reason mentioned. *In the manga, Eiichiro changes his t-shirt before going to the shop to repair his tennis racket. In the anime, Eiichiro did not change his t-shirt. Navigation Category:Second Kanagawa Junior Tennis Circuit Arc Category:Volume 4 (DVD) (S1) Category:Season 1